Use Currency Release For Free

Take your money to be replaced at your local bank if damages are not too extensive (minor tears, stains, soilage, etc.) Send any bills that have been extremely mutilated (burns, chemical stains, extreme tears, etc.) to the Bureau of Engraving and Printing along with a letter explaining the damage.

The FedNow Service is neither a form of currency nor a step toward eliminating any form of payment, including cash. The Federal Reserve has made no decision on issuing a central bank digital currency (CBDC) and would only proceed with the issuance of a CBDC with an authorizing law.

Most bills will remain intact in the washer and dryer. But while a wash cycle may make your money look untainted, it nonetheless ruins the bills; hot water can damage security features, and detergents change the way cash reflects light, which currency-sorting machines detect. Banks shred washed money.

Provide advance written notification to your local Federal Reserve Bank cash office by completing the Contaminated Currency Notification form. When completing the form, be sure to provide as much information as possible regarding the type and extent of the contamination.

Even if cash is smelly or dirty, banks give their customers credit for the deposit, said Garrett Francis, the Boston Fed's director of Cash Services. The money is double-bagged, and the bank notifies the Fed that the deposit will be sent for special handling.

Not only does the Fed have no plans to issue a digital currency, but it has repeatedly said it wouldn't do so without authorization from Congress. How one might work?including how closely it might imitate physical cash?is still a wide-open question that can only be answered through research and testing.

How to Redeem Mutilated Currency. Mail or personally deliver your mutilated note to the BEP. Include a legible letter stating the estimated value, your contact information, and an explanation of how the currency became mutilated.